Electric signal apparatus



(No Model.) 2 sheets-smet i."

M. W. 81: M. F. PARRISQH. ELECTRIG slGNAL .A PPABJMJUS.

. No. 322,474. -PatentedJu1y`21 (No Model.) z'sneetsf-s'heet 2.

1v1. W. av M. BPARRISH.

. yELEGTRIG SIGNAL APPARATUS. No. 322,474. 'Patented Julyzl, 1885.

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UNITED STATES *PATENT OFFICE..

MYRCN w. PARRISH, or DETROIT, AND MARCs F. PARRIsH, F NILEs, AssICNons CF CNE-THIRD 'ro HORACE B. PECK, CF ALLEGAN, MICHIGAN.

ELECrRlC SIGNAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,474, dated July 21, 1885.

Application filed March 28, 1885. (No modi-1.) v

To rLZZ whom t may concer/t:

Be it known that we, MYRCN W. PARRIsII and MARCUs F. PARRIsII, citizens ofthe United States, the former residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, the latter residing at Niles, county of Berrien, State of Michigan, have jointly invented a new and useful Electric Signal Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists in the novel con struction and association of parts constituting a new electric signal apparatus especially designed for use on railwaytrains, Lut equally applicable for use in fire and burglar alarms, and for other purposes. The objects attained are set forth in the following description and claims.

A general description consists in two electric circuits, one of which is of a higher rezo sistance than the other, an electrical generator, ora battery, if preferred, connecting the two circuits or being in said circuits, and a signal-bell (or other suitable alarm or signal device capable of being operated by an elec- 2 5 tric current) in the circuitof the higher resistance, and circuit-breakers in the circuit of the lower resistance-one or more-the whole so constructed and arranged that a break in the circuit of the lower resistance causes the 3o bell to be rung by the circuit of the higher resistance,and consequently not to ring when the circuit of the lower resistance remains unbroken-that is, breaking the latter cir- Y cuit rings the bell, and making7 the said 3' 5 latter circuit stops the bell from ringing.

In the drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l shows a side elevation of a railway-train with the apparatus adapt ed and connected for use. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of Fig. l in perspective, showing the arrangement of the circuits, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of parts in Fig. l, referred to by like letters; and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatical view of the two circuits shown independent of the generator-case and train of cars.

Referring to Fig. 2, a case is shown, in the part D of which is a generator, and on the topof part Gis la bell, t' t, nia-de in the usual 5o manner. The generator is not here shown,

resistance.

Ifor the reason that :its construction and connection and relation with an electric bell are well understood. The generator may be operated by any suitable means, no operating means being here shown. In lieu ot a generator,a battery may be employed. The circuit of higher resistance connects the generator and bell, the only portion of 4said circuit which appears visible being the wires c c', connecting the posts m x (which are in the 6o circuit and extend through the case) with the posts e e of said circuit. The remaining part of the circuit within the case, in which part of the circuit are the bell and the generator, is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4. The generator l is thus seen in both circuits and the alarm-bell t' in the circuit of the higher The common magnets 2 2 in such signal-circuits of course contain in their Inetallic coils a larger amount of wire than the 7o lower-resistance circuit (t c. Thus when the latter-named circuit is broken or Virtually destroyed the higher-resistance circuit rings the bell at the place desired for it to be sound i ed, and the breaking of the lower-resistance circuit, it will be observed, is` effected by the operator at the point from whence the signal is sent. Thus the action of the operator to send the signal is the action which destroys for the time being the lower-resistance circuit. 8o The electric current of the-circuit just described will ring the bell' continuously while the generator is running until the circuit is broken or is robbed of its electric current. In order that the bell may be under the con- 8 5 trol of the operator, a distance away from the bell-circuit j ust described, we connect another circuit, a c, with the generator, Fig. 2, of a lower resistance than the bel1circuit,and when thus connected the bell-circuit becomes a cir- 9o cuit of high resistance as compared to the circuit of a lower resistance. As now described and shown in Fig. 2, the bell will not ring` although the generator be running, for the reason that the circuit of low resistance has robbed the circuit of higher resistance of its power to ring the bell. By breaking the cir-` cuit a c it virtually no longer constitutes a circuit, and the whole supply of electricity from the generator plays on the bell-circuit 10o of the circuit in each car, Fig. l.

and the bell rings. The bell will ring continuously while thecircuit of the lower resistance is broken, and by alternately breaking and making said latter circuit the bell will give an interrupted succession of sounds.

At D' a circuit-breaker is shown in the circuit a-c, consisting of a case, v, within which is fixed a flexible hair-pin-shaped bar, t, one end of which is left free to detachably contact with the metal of the case, and a push-button, r, for operating the same. By pushing on this button the free end of the flexible bart is disconnected or carried away from its metal contact, which action breaks the circuit c c, causing the bell to be rung by the other circuit,as before described.

Any suitable circuit-breaker may be employed at the location in the circuit desired or at different locations, as shown in Fig. 1, when connected with a car.

Similar devices,called push-buttons have been heretofore used for closing or making a bell-circuit, and thereby ring the bell. W'hen using the signal connected with a train of cars, the design is to place the generator, bell, and bell-circuit in the engine-cab, Fig. l, and extend the circuit of lower resistance through the cars. The parallel vwires of said circuit a c are detachably coupled together between the cars, as at s, so as to be uncoupled by pulling apart, Fig. 3. Then thus coupled, should one car become detached from another, or the train break apart, the strain on the couplings s would pull them apart, thus breaking the circuit of' a lower resistance, which would cause the bell in the cab to ring continuously. Thus the engineer, by the nature of the signal, would know that an accident had happened to the low-resistance circuit, and would stop the engine at once, instead of running miles, as is frequently the case, before discovering` that a part of his train had become detached.

Any well-known style of coupling or otherwise, at s, may be employed to detachably couple the sections of the circuit of lower resistance. By.sections is meant the wires Of course VtheV terminal end of the wires a c through the end of the rear car are coupled together when in use, thus making the circuit.

From the foregoing it will be seen that our invention may have many uses not requiring the circuit-breakers D, which in a car are designed for the conductors use, for the reason that any disconnection of one of the wires c c, or a detaching of one of the sections, as above defined, from another, will cause the alarm to be sounded. As means for propelling the generator in the engine-cab are already known, and as we 'are making other inventicns having reference to the generator and means for propelling the same, no details The novelty and utilityr of our invention will appear obvious from the foregoing, it is deemed, when contrasting it with the old apparatus, in which the bell-circuit is extended through the train of cars, and which requires to be made instead of broken to ring the bell, and in which only one circuit is employed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, is

l. An electric signal apparatus, consisting of two circuits, one of a higher resistance than the other, the circuit of higher resistance being located at the place where the signal is to be sounded, a generator or battery in the circuits, a signal or alarm in the higher-resistance circuit, and a signaling circuit-breaker in the lower-resistance circuit at a point from whence the signal is to be sent, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a train of cars, of a high-resistance circuit located in the engine, a lower-resistance circuit running through the train, a generator or battery in the circuits, an alarm or signal in the higher-resistance circuit, and one or more signaling circuitbreakers in the lower-resistance circuit in the cars, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a train of cars, of a high-resistance circuit located in the engine, a lower-resistance circuit running through the train, a generator or battery in the circuits, and a signal or alarm in the high-resistance circuit, whereby an alarm would be sounded in the engine by an accidental breaking orV separation of the lower-resistance circuit, substantially as set forth.

In testimony of the foregoing we have hereunto subscribed our names in presence of two witnesses.

MYRON W. PARRISH. MARCUS F. PARRISH.

Witnesses:

J. R. PALMER. G. O. B. HALE.-

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